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August 2009

August 29, 2009

Norman Norell (1900-1972) was born and raised in the midwest (Indiana) and moved to New York City as soon as possible. Norell studied at Parsons School of Design and after a brief return to Indiana to open a batik shop in 1920 or 1921, he returned to the east coast to study at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute. In the early 1920s, there were still film studios in the New York area and Norell found work as a costume designer and later at the garment wholesaler Charles Armour. Between 1928 and 1940, Norell designed garments for the legendary fashion taste-maker Hattie Carnegie. In 1941, Norell became an employee of Anthony Traina. Traina, a garment manufacturer, offered Norell a small salary if his name were to appear along with Traina's on the label, and a larger salary if Norell's name was not on the label. Norell took the smaller sum and remained a salaried employee until 1960, when Traina retired. From 1960 until his death in 1972, Norell's designs were labeled solely with his own name.

Throughout his career, Norell was often called the "rival of Paris." This moniker was intended to convey an extremely high-standard of workmanship on par with the couture designers of Paris. Unlike couture designers, who produce each garment for a specific individual, Norell applied his high-standards of workmanship to garments produced on a large scale. Though technically considered ready-to-wear, each Norell garment was completed start-to-finish by a single worker and often required a great deal of hand-work. In order to maintain quality control, Norell personally supervised the production of his designs and maintained a profit cap of $2 million.

The level of workmanship and oversight that went into the production of each garment resulted in high prices. Norell's design aesthetic, however, was so timeless that women kept and wore their Traina-Norell or Norell garments for many years. In his 1972 obituary, one client remarked,"I wore an 11-year-old Norell to the symphony the other night, and everyone thought it was new."1 Another client commented on the overall wearability of Norell's designs: "There's something about his clothes that made you feel marvelous."2

Side view of 2003.794.4A-C

Once Norell landed on a successful design, he was not afraid of repeating himself. As he said in the 1960s, "To qualify as a designer one should not be afraid to repeat a good design, and certainly must have his own signature."3 One of Norell's signatures was the sailor dress, which appeared throughout his career. The FIDM Museum version dates from the early 1950s and is a classic representation of the 1950s silhouette. Other versions feature a reverse color scheme (navy with white accents), long sleeves, or a slightly modified silhouette. When Norell's March 1969 collection did not feature even one sailor dress, a reviewer noted "He's been making sailor dresses for so long, it seems as if he invented them."4 That same season, however, New York designers Geoffrey Beene and Bill Blass offered versions of the sailor dress, demonstrating the influential nature of Norell's persistent vision.

Back view of 2003.794.4A-C

1 Morris, Bernadine. "Norman Norell, Designer, Dies; Made 7th Ave. the Rival of Paris" New York Times 26 Oct. 1972.:89.

August 27, 2009

In 1913, Vogue magazine featured its first patterns for bathing costumes. These do-it-yourself patterns were intended to fill the "distinct need for smart bathing costumes," an indication that swimming had become a widespread and fashionable activity.1 Swimwear editorials began to appear regularly in Vogue and swimwear itself became more varied. With the appearance of elasticized fabrics in 1917, the modest nineteenth century bathing costume began to disappear and was slowly replaced by progressively lighter and more form-fitting swimwear. By the end of World War I in 1919, increased social freedom for women made it widely acceptable to wear more revealing swimwear in public.

During the 1920s, swimwear became an important component of a fashionable wardrobe. Designers such as Schiaparelli and Patou created swimwear demonstrating the most current design trends. These slim, form-fitting, one-piece swimsuits often featured stark geometric patterning and resembled men's swimwear. Overall, they were in tune with the boyish silhouette popular for women throughout the 1920s. These bathing suits did not stand alone; they were accompanied by a plethora of accessories, including hats, beach carryalls, and appropriate footwear. Beach pajamas were a popular cover-up and also functioned as casual resort wear.

In the 1930s, California became a center of swimwear design and production. Catalina, which was originally a sweater and underwear manufacturer, quickly became the most prominent name in American swimwear. Catalina capitalized on its proximity to Hollywood and recruited stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Ronald Reagan for their ad campaigns. Catalina also used beauty pageants to promote their product, supplying swimwear for the for "Swimsuit" portion of the Miss America Pageant until 1950.

This mid-sixties example of a Catalina swimsuit demonstrates the close alignment of streetwear and swimwear which occurred in the twentieth century. The colorful, mildly psychedelic pattern is typical of 1960s dress, which featured a wide variety of patterns. Metallic accents were also popular in the 1960s, a demonstration of the popularity of new, man-made materials in clothing. Though it features some shaping in the bust, the overall silhouette is fairly natural and would reflect the body underneath the suit. 1960s streetwear reflects this same trend away from the corseted silhouette so widespread during the 1950s. The tiny skirt is a nod to modesty but also demonstrates how far the nineteenth century bathing costume had evolved.

Despite the availability of extremely revealing swimwear, it is still possible to find swimsuits which make direct reference to the history of swimwear. The Moschino suit below, though thoroughly twentieth century, makes direct reference to nineteenth century swimwear. Its black and red coloring is an updated version of the nautical styling popular so common in early bathing costumes. Though lacking a concealing skirt, the double ruffle at the hip references the modest skirts of nineteenth century bathing costumes. Can you imagine how it would be received at a nineteenth century seaside resort??

Bathing suit Moschino 2006 Museum Purchase 2006.5.15

Back view of 2006.5.15

Bodice detail of 2006.5.15

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times demonstrates that swimwear can still be controversial. To read about the controversy surrounding the burkini, a recent innovation in swimwear, click here.

August 25, 2009

As August turns to September, we're all thinking about how to best enjoy the last days of summer. For many, this means getting in one last swim. Imagine what it would be like to paddle around in the water wearing the wool "swimsuit" below. Seems difficult, doesn't it?

August 21, 2009

If you're looking for a research project, here's a great one for you! See if you can add anything new to the existing information about the BouéSoeurs, the pair of French sisters who designed this lingerie-style dress intended for a young girl.

August 19, 2009

Ladies come to me for a gown as they go to a distinguished painter to get their portrait put on canvas. I am an artist, not a dressmaker. Paul Poiret, 19131

Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the fashionable female silhouette stood away from the body and depended on multiple layers of garments for its shape. Petticoats, corsets, sleeve plumpers, and bustles were just some of the devices used in the nineteenth century to mold the female (and sometimes male) body. Applied decoration to the outermost layer of garments reinforced the impression of woman as ornate object. This began to change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when women became interested in activities which required ease of movement, such as bicycling, tennis and dancing. In conjunction with the emerging popularity of these pastimes, a more streamlined feminine silhouette emerged. Closely associated with the new silhouette was the Parisian designer Paul Poiret (1879-1944).

Beginning in 1898, Poiret worked for the grand couturier Doucet, though he soon moved to the House of Worth. In 1903, Poiret's creation of a coat based on the shape of a kimono demonstrated that his aesthetic had evolved beyond that of his employer Charles Worth. Worth's aesthetic depended on luxurious fabrics, corseted silhouettes and a generous application of applied decoration. Neither the client nor Worth appreciated Poiret's relatively simple coat, so he left to open his own salon. Looking back on this turning point in his 1931 autobiography, King of Fashion, Poiret wrote that he had become tired of the dominant aesthetic, as "all that was soft, washed-out, and insipid, was held in honour." 2

August 18, 2009

Thanks to Heather of the dress studies blog Worn Through for her complimentary review of this blog! You can read the review here. Earlier this year, Worn Through featured an interview with our collections manager, Christina Johnson. You can read all three parts of that interview here.

August 17, 2009

All museum employees are charged with careful collection oversight. We monitor temperature and humidity, store objects with an eye to preventing damage while also trying to learn more about each object in the collection. Despite these efforts, we sometimes overlook fabulous objects hidden in plain sight.

Over the past few years, we have updated our storage facilities through the installation of compact storage units. The resulting upheaval caused us to look more closely at a collection of textile swatches stored in enormous albums. These albums were stored on a shelf in the Study Collection and no one currently working in the FIDM Museum had ever taken more than a cursory look at the swatches within. Once we started to look more carefully at the albums, we were shocked and excited to see what we had been missing!

The albums were filled with small snippets of both dress and furnishing fabrics dating from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Though many of the swatches were remarkable solely for their compelling design, it was exciting to spot textiles that could be associated with specific designers and stylistic movements. Some of the most important swatches are featured below.

Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) was a French painter who met couturier Paul Poiret around 1910. Together they established a workshop for block-printing textiles. As a painter, Dufy was associated with Fauvism, a style of painting characterized by large areas of bold colorization, and a certain rapidity and spontaneity in execution. In his capacity as textile designer for Poiret, Dufy created textiles featuring extravagant portrayals of natural forms which can be clearly linked to his paintings.

Dufy's textile designs for Poiret were inspiring and difficult to imitate. In 1912, the French textile manufacturer Bianchini-Ferier persuaded Dufy to leave Poiret as they were unable to find a similar talent. Until 1928, Dufy worked exclusively for Bianchini-Ferier. While designing for Bianchini-Ferier, Dufy often referenced the designs created for Poiret. Meanwhile, Poiret continued to feature Dufy's textile designs as an integral part of his overall aesthetic. In 1920, Poiret's summer collection exclusively utilized Dufy designed textiles.1

In addition to the short-lived textile printing workshop he established with Raoul Dufy, Paul Poiret also established the Atelier Martine in 1911. Comprised of young girls without formal artistic training, the Atelier Martine functioned both as a design laboratory and workshop. Students were sent out into the world to find inspiration for textile designs, which were critiqued by both Poiret himself and visiting artists. The hope was that these untrained students would create unique designs, unfettered by ideas about design and artistic traditions. Some of the resulting designs were turned into yardage, which was then used in Poiret-designed garments or for home decoration.

August 14, 2009

Mae West's (1893-1980) most famous attribute was her figure. Buxom, rounded and held in place by rigid corsets, West's silhouette provoked a degree of outrage, while also serving as her best publicity. Her hourglass shape was immortalized in 1937 when the couturier Elsa Schiaparelli used West's silhouette as the basis for her Shocking perfume bottle. Hired to design costumes for West's 1937 film Every Day's a Holiday, the Paris based couturier would not travel to Hollywood and West could not travel to Paris. A solution was reached whereby a torso based on West's measurements was sent to Schiaparelli's Paris workshop. The resulting perfume bottle serves as an iconic representation of both Mae West and Elsa Schiaparelli.

August 12, 2009

"What must be admired most in Adrian's fashions is their construction; he is an architect, balancing proportions and studying every line. His approach is original and frequently unconventional, but that is what makes the viewing of an Adrian collection exciting."1

When Adrian decided to leave the world of costume design in 1941 and open Adrian Ltd, he could have had no knowledge of how perfect his timing would prove to be. With the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940, all contact with the French fashion industry halted. As nearly all American designers based their designs on those originating from Paris, the absence of information from France created a fashion vacuum. American designers stepped up to the plate, and soon began to create fashions based on an idealized American lifestyle. These new fashions were often casual, practical and made of durable fabrics. Both New York and Los Angeles fought for the title of "America's Fashion Capitol." The February 19, 1941 title of a Los Angeles Times article declared, "East and West Struggle for Fashion Dictatorship," and suggested that Los Angeles would win the battle, ultimately becoming "more powerful in its sway over the civilized world than Paris ever thought of being."

Adrian debuted his first collection for buyers in January of 1942 at the May Company department store in Los Angeles. Buyers were not particularly excited about this initial collection, so Adrian held another show in February of the same year. This show was a great success and Adrian was soon selling his designs in department stores throughout the country. At the time he said, "It is thrilling to be designing for American women and I can only hope the women will enjoy wearing my clothes after they have purchased them for their own."2 Adrian's timing was perfect; with his well-regarded name and design skills, he was bound to be a success.

In his new incarnation as fashion designer, Adrian intended to design for everywoman, not just movie stars. Throughout the years of World War II, Adrian's collections were considered wearable and practical,yet stylish and flattering. Individual garments were always given witty, topical names and showcased the inherent qualities of the chosen fabric. Drapeable jersey was used for slinky evening gowns and sensible woolens were used to create suits with interesting details such as mitered stripes and geometric appliques. Wartime restrictions on fabric usage and ornamentation meant that Adrian, like all American designers, had to be inventive with his detailing.

With the end of World War II era fabric rationing, Adrian was free to create evening gowns that incorporated multiple yards of fabric. Though Adrian's day fashions tended to showcase clean lines and surprising details, Adrian's evening gowns were often quite dramatic, offering a touch of glamour that hearkened back to his days as a costume designer. Taffeta was a favorite fabric as its inherent stiffness lent itself to dramatic, sculptural shaping, as in the gown below.

Evening gownAdrian19482006.883.1Gift of Bob Diamond

This gown incorporates elements typical of Adrian's evening gowns of the late 1940s. Swagged iridescent taffeta creates a full skirt with draped effect and dramatic fabric panniers at each hip. The back of the skirt features an asymmetrical train, another favorite device. Adrian repeated this 18th century influenced silhouette multiple times, creating similar versions of this gown using different colors of taffeta and varying the bodice. He designed a version for his wife, Janet Gaynor, which was called "The Tigress" and featured tiger striped taffeta. Other evening gowns from this period feature taffeta wings jutting from hips and shoulders and voluminous skirts, all with a sculptural feel.

Back view of 2006.883.1

Side view of 2006.883.1

Adrian's design career effectively ended in May 1952, when he suffered a heart attack during work on his fall collection. Adrian's ability to span the gap between the silver screen and everyday life indicated a level of creative ability possessed by few designers, and rather than entrust someone else with design duties, Adrian decided to close his company. Adrian and his wife moved to Brazil in 1954, returning to Los Angeles in 1958 when Adrian was asked to design costumes for a stage production. On September 12, 1959, Adrian passed away due to a cerebral hemorrhage.

August 11, 2009

Because of our location in Los Angeles, the FIDM Museum is fortunate to house costumes from a variety of Hollywood films. Many of these costumes are associated with the early years of the film industry and were worn by stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Rudolph Valentino. You can look forward to seeing some of these costumes in future blog posts!

This week we're going to feature a few Hollywood related highlights from our collection. Today begins a two-part post on Adrian (1903-1959), who was both a costume designer for Hollywood films and a successful designer of couture and ready-to-wear women's clothing. Between 1922 and 1926, Adrian worked in New York and designed costumes for a number of stage shows and also designed costumes for the Rudolph Valentino film A Sainted Devil (1924). In 1928, Adrian signed a contract with Hollywood based MGM, where he remained as chief costume designer until 1941.

As a costume designer, Adrian only designed for women, while his assistants developed costumes for male actors. This led to Adrian's cinematic credit line, "Gowns by Adrian." Working with superstars such as Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo, Adrian created costumes which were intended to reveal information about setting, character and plot through fabric, fit and embellishment. In a 1937 interview Adrian noted that "Few people in an audience watching a great screen production realize the importance of any gown worn by the feminine star...the fact that it was definitely planned to mirror some definite mood, to be as much a part of the play as the lines or the scenery, seldom occurs to them."1

Period costumes are a particular challenge to the costume designer, as they must be both authentic to the era depicted and accessible to the audience. Adrian excelled at balancing these competing priorities and created costumes for numerous period films. These included Marie Antoinette (1938), Anna Karenina (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Pride and Prejudice (1940). Adrian also designed the fantastical costumes for one of the best-loved films ever, The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Bonnet Adrian1940 Gift of Stacy Behlmer2003.798.2

The bonnet above was donated to the FIDM Museum in 2003 and came to us with an attribute of Adrian for the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice. It bore a label reading "Ann Rutherford." Rutherford was a well-known actress, starring in numerous films throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Shortly after the donation, our curator, Kevin Jones, happened to be watching television and came across the same movie during the exact scene in which Ann Rutherford wears our bonnet. Kevin was able to actually see the label reading "Ann Rutherford," proving that our bonnet was worn in the film and was therefore designed by Adrian. You can watch the 1940 trailer for Pride and Prejudicehere. The New York Times named it one of the top 10 films of 1940, calling it "one of the most charming and elegant costume pictures ever made."2

Adrian often used images of historic dress as a reference point, taking authentic period styles and altering them to appear more dynamic onscreen. With its tall, upright, flattened brim, our bonnet is a case in point. Though the trimming of feathers, vines and ribbon are period-appropriate, the overall silhouette is exaggerated beyond what was actually worn in the 1830s. The various greens used in the bonnet were not popular in the 1830s. These colors, which appear as shades of gray in the black and white film, must have been chosen for their onscreen appearance.

Back view of 2003.798.2

Though Adrian designed specifically for the screen, his aesthetic was highly influential in mainstream fashion. MGM used Adrian's costumes as a promotional tool, allowing industry magazines to document the process of costume making so that home-sewers could mimic his aesthetic. Dresses based on "Gowns by Adrian" were sold through Macy's Cinema Shops, which sold variations of dresses featured in Hollywood films. Other Adrian knock-offs were also available, including a line designed by "Adrienne," which featured dresses named after Hollywood stars. Perhaps most influential was the dress worn by Joan Crawford in Letty Lynton(1932). A floor-length, full skirted dress with a fitted bodice and exuberant rows of ruffled fabric at the shoulders, the dress was a sensation. Versions were sold at multiple price points throughout the country, demonstrating that costuming and plot were equally important to the film-goer.

By 1941, Adrian costume designs were both widely admired and widely imitated. He had worked with some of the most iconic women in Hollywood, helping to shape their cinematic personas and thus influencing fashion for all women. It was time to move on to new challenges. In August 1941, Adrian left MGM with the intention of opening his own shop.

Check back tomorrow for a look at one of Adrian's designs under his own label!